Automatic car-brake.



No. 769,234. PATENTED SEPT. 6, 1904.

- 0. P. PIERCE.

AUTOMATIC OAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16. 1903;

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

NO MODEL.

' No. 769,234. PATBNTED SEPT. 6, 1904.

AUTOMATIC GAR BRAKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 16. 1903. N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

llllmllllllll 1- Patented September 6, 1904.

PATENT OFFI E.

I CLAUDE E. PIERCE, 0E sT. LOUIS, Missounr.

AUTOMA'FI'IC I CAR-BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 769,234, dated September 6, 1904. Application filed May 16, 1903. Serial No. 157 .480. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern:

. Beit known that I, CLAUDE F. PIERCE, acitizen of the United States, residing at St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Automatic Car-Brake, of which the following is a specification.

My invention is an improvement in automatic brakes for cars, and especially adapted for street-cars.

The object of my invention is to devise a brake which will be operated by the movement of the car and which is at the same time under the control of the motorman or conductor, who can at will put into operative positilondthe mechanism whereby the brake is app 1e Y I am aware of the fact that brakes have been devised which have been applied by the rotation of the car-axle through the medium of.

friction-clutches and that much trouble has been caused by the unequal wearing of the faces of the clutches, causing them to slip and rendering the action of the brakes uncertain and the mechanism itself unsafe for-practical use.

The object of my device is to remedy these defects by devising a brake certain in operation and which can be applied as readily on a curve as on a straight track.

My invention' consists in the peculiarities of construction described hereinafter, particularly pointed out in the claims, and illustrated I in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a diagrammatic view of my brake apparatus as applied to an eight-wheel car. Fig. 2 is a perspective view showing detached the mechanism arranged beneath the car and between the trucks. Fig. 3 is an end view of .the mechanism shown in Fig. 2, showing same secured beneath the car. Fig. 4: is a detail plan view of a portion of the brake-operating mechanism, -Fig.5 is a side elevation of a three-faced made-up friction-wheel. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the friction-wheel,showing all three faces. Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic View illustrating the arrangement ofthe levers and cables for actuating the brake-applying mechanism.

In the above-described drawings, A represents the front and rear platforms of a car of rod D the ordinary construction for street-railway use, and A the brake-handle shafts, which are cranked at their lower ends, as at A and connected to the brake-rods B B, respectively.

Beneath the car is arranged a rectangular frameC, and passing through the front end plate of the frame is a bar 0, and pivotally secured intermediate its ends to the front of the bar C is an elbow-lever C to one end of which the rear end of the rod B is attached, while to the other end of the lever is secured -a chain B which passes over a pulley B in advance of the elbow-lever and is secured to the inner end of the rod B. I A rearwardlyextending bar C passes through the rear plate of the frame and is rigidly secured to same, while the bar Clslides loosely in the front plate. A coiled spring 0 is arranged within the frame, being secured to the rear end of the bar 0 and at its opposite end to the bar C or, as shown in Fig. 4:, the spring may be integral with the bar C and formed by bending a portion of same into spiral shape, the construction adopted depending on the material of which the bar is made. The frame C, as will be readily understood, is really supported by the bars and is not secured to the car.

To the rear of the frame C there are secured to the under side of the car a plurality of V- shaped brackets I), connected at their bottom by a plate D, having ahorizontal cylindrical shoulder D having a bore in which slides the To the front of these brackets are fastened supplemental brackets D, having bearings formed in them in which are journaled trunnions D formed on the lever D midway its ends. To the upper end of this lever is pivotally secured the rear bifurcated end of the bar C while the lower end of the lever is loosely pivoted to the forward end of the rod D To the rear of the brackets D are a plurality of smaller parallel brackets E, in which are j ournaled a shaft E. A lower shaft E is swingingly supportedfrom the'shaft E loo A friction-pulley E is rigidly secured to the shaft E between the members comprising the brackets E". A chain F passes over the pulley E and winds on the pulley E which serves as a drum.

My device is shown as applied to a fourwheeled truck, and on the inner axle of one of the trucks is rigidly secured a frictionwheel Gr, made up of layers of paper and having beveled portions, thus forming three faces Gr, G and G the car-wheel axle being indicated by G*. This wheel is made up of a plurality of split paper rings, held between the flanges Gr of the plates G. A setscrew G binds the plates to the axle G, the two sections of each plate fitting over the axle and the whole being secured by bolts, as shown in Fig. 5. To the truck is pivotaliy secured intermediate its ends a lever H, to the upper end of which an end of the chain F is secured. Links H H are pivotally secured at one end to the lever, on.e' on each side of the pivotal point of the lever, and the opposite ends of the links are secured to the brake-beams H The operation of my brake mechanism is as follows: By rotation of the brake and shaft the cranked portion A is turned, drawing forward the rod B, considering that red as running toward the front of the car, drawing out the spring (3*, drawing forward the frame C, rod C forcing rearward the rod D and swinging shaft E bringing the pulley E into contact with the friction-wheel G, rotating pulley E shaft E and the pulley or drum E and winding up the chain F, and thus applying the brakes. When the brake is operated from the opposite end of the car, the rod B and chain B operate the same mechanism in the same manner.

By constructing the made-up friction-wheel with three faces the pulley E will engage it on a curve, the face G being engaged on a straight track, and one of the beveled faces G G is engaged on a curve, being to the right orto the left.

Having thus fully described my invention,

what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. A car-brake comprising a friction-wheel rigidly secured to an axle, said wheel having its periphery divided into a central face, and side faces at an angle to the central face, a pulley adapted to engage one of said faces, and means for actuating the brake-beam when said pulley is rotated.

2. The combination with a car-truck, of a friction-disk rigidly secured to an axle, parallel brackets carried by the car adjacent the truck, a shaft journaled in said brackets, a pulley on said shaft, links pivotall y connected to and depending from said shaft, a second shaft parallel with and below the first-mentioned shaft and supported by the said links, a beveled pulley on the second shaft, a frietion-pulley on the second shaft, :1 chain secured at one end to the beveled pulley and passing over the pulley on the first-mentioned shaft, a lever pivoted intermediate its ends to the truck, the upper end of the lever being secured to the said chain, and links pivoted to the lever on opposite sides of the pivotal point of the lever and adapted to actuate brake-beams in opposite directions.

3. A car-brake comprising parallel brackets secured beneath the car, a shaft carried by said brackets, a loose pulley thereon, swinging arms secured to the ends of said shaft, a revoluble shaft, journaled in said arms, a frietion-pulley rigidly mounted thereon, a beveled pulley arranged on the revoluble shaft, a chain secured at one end to the beveled pul ley, a friction-wheel secured to the car-axle, means for forcing the friction-pulley,.on the revoluble shaft, against the friction-wheel and thereby rotating the said shaft and winding the chain, and means connected to the brakes and the chain and adapted to apply the brakes when the chain is wound on the revoluble shaft.

CLAUDE F. PIERCE. Witnesses:

S. A. MEAD, A. S. OTTO. 

